Politecol

Trap-neuter-release or Trap-kill-$5?

- Wayne Linklater • Jan 30, 2013

• environment and ecology,
• feral cat,
• predation,
• stray cat,
• toxoplasmosis,
• trap-neuter-release

To my horror, but thanks to Dr. Gareth Morgan’s recent announcement that he will donate $5 to Bob Kerridge’s SPCA for every cat they euthanize rather than release, I discovered that some factions of the SPCA are releasing cats into our cities, towns and countryside – lots of cats. Bob Kerridge – CEO SPCA – … Read More

Cat-harsis – solutions aplenty and possible

- Wayne Linklater • Jan 29, 2013

• cat collar bells,
• cat netting,
• cat run,
• control,
• domestic cat,
• environment and ecology,
• feral cat,
• legislation,
• regulation,
• stray cat

  Indoor cats and cat runs, like the one illustrated, are more common in other countries but also possible in New Zealand. Indoor cats live longer healthier lives and cannot kill native wildlfe. I began writing about solutions to the cat problem by suggesting conservationists appeal to cat owners’ self-interest and the health and well-being of cats … Read More

Conservationists should care about cats

- Wayne Linklater • Jan 28, 2013

• cat fight,
• cat health,
• cat welfare,
• conservation,
• domestic cat,
• environment and ecology,
• native wildlife,
• vehicle accident

– the least cost, least resistance, and most sustainable solution to the domestic cat problem. Debates that divide communities are especially emotional and irrational when one side attempts to impose a solution. Inevitably the imposition will result in an equal (or stronger) and opposite resistance from the other side. Positions become entrenched and solutions are not achieved – even … Read More

When the cats away… … people do the killing

- Wayne Linklater • Jan 27, 2013

• cat,
• cat control,
• domestic,
• environment and ecology,
• feral,
• mesopredator release,
• rat,
• stray

– why getting rid of domestic cats will not result in more rats killing more wildlife. One of the leading cautions after Dr. Gareth Morgan’s call for controls on cat numbers and ownership was the concern that if cat numbers were reduced other predators of native wildlife, especially rats, would increase in number because cats also … Read More

Do domestic cats exterminate native animal populations?

- Wayne Linklater • Jan 24, 2013

• cats,
• domestic cats,
• environment and ecology,
• feral cats,
• predation,
• stray

Domestic cats kill native animals – fact. But… … just because our cats kill it does not necessarily mean that native animal populations cannot co-exist, or even thrive, where our feline companions live. Two considerations determine whether cat-kill exterminates native prey populations: 1. how many cats there are, and 2. how fast native animal populations in our backyards … Read More

Do domestic cats really kill native wildlife?

- Wayne Linklater • Jan 23, 2013

• cat,
• depredation,
• domestic,
• environment and ecology,
• evidence-based,
• predation

The commentary of the last few days following Dr. Gareth Morgan’s media release has focussed too much on the messenger and how the message was delivered rather than understanding the problem and potential solutions. Some have described his views as extreme but whether or not they are extreme is less important than whether or not … Read More

Cat-astrophy in search of solutions

- Wayne Linklater • Jan 22, 2013

• cat,
• cats and native wildlife,
• domestic,
• environment and ecology,
• feral,
• Gareth Morgan,
• robert Keridge,
• SPCA,
• stray

Gareth Morgan’s call for the gradual reduction in cat numbers and ownership, especially from parts of New Zealand near places where our nation’s biodiversity live is a welcome ‘public face’ to a long-running discussion amongst ecological scientists and conservationists. Commentators and media, unfortunately, have made a hash of Dr. Morgan’s suggestion – reinterpretation towards misrepresentation. Read More

A new 3 R’s for the environment

- Wayne Linklater • Jan 15, 2013

• applied ecology,
• environment,
• environment and ecology,
• Mobius loop,
• reconciliation ecology,
• Reduce Reuse Recycle,
• reservation ecology,
• restoration ecology,
• waste hierarchy

The 3 Rs, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, have become a mantra – an axiom with extraordinary reach across communities, cultures and nations for the more efficient use of natural resources, primarily by reducing waste. It is a leading example of the power of slogan and motif – communications and marketing – to change environmental behaviour. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, also called … Read More

Whipping the poor to garden – an ecological injustice

- Wayne Linklater • Jan 06, 2013

• ecology,
• environment and ecology,
• Fertile Cresent,
• garden,
• gardening,
• Health,
• poor

Weekly newspaper columnists most often opine on people and society. Michael Laws, in his weekly Sunday Star Times column, has a particular trenchant for admonishing people with fewer resources than himself. This Sunday, Laws advocated gardening to the poor in “Want to eat well? Simply grow your own food” (Sunday Star Times January 6th). Seldom do weekly columnists … Read More

Reflecting on wildlife rehabilitation II

- Wayne Linklater • Dec 20, 2012

• Antarctica,
• Antipodes Islands,
• conservation,
• environment and ecology,
• Happy-feet,
• Million dollar Mouse Project,
• Southern Ocean,
• wildlife rehabilitation

– did Happy-feet’s visit increase support for conservation? You are sick, tired, and thousands of miles from home. Swimming, you pull up yourself up on a beach for a rest. Within hours you are surrounding by hairless primates who stare and take photographs. Within days you … Read More